Size joins 1,000 club, Moreira speeds to 100 at Happy Valley

22/02/2017

By Andrew Hawkins

It was a night of milestones and records at Happy Valley as Champion Trainer John Size and Champion Jockey Joao Moreira took centre stage in a bumper night at the iconic city racetrack on Wednesday (22 February).

Size, reigning Champion Trainer and the current leader in this season’s trainers’ championship, brought up a rare milestone as he became just the third handler to score 1,000 Hong Kong wins. He notched a double with Game Of Fun (126lb) in Race 3, the second section of the Class 4 Kwai Chung Handicap and D B Pin (130lb) in Race 5, the Class 2 Sai Kung Handicap (1000m). Both were ridden by Zac Purton, who rode a double for his compatriot for just the second time, the first since May 2011.

“Any sort of milestone or achievement is important in any career,” said Size after Game Of Fun saw the Australian horseman join John Moore (1,543 Hong Kong wins) and Tony Cruz (1,104) as the only three members of the millennium club. “It’s a gratifying feeling, to reach 1,000 wins in 16 years. It’s OK for me, I’m satisfied with that, it’s a very good feeling.”

Purton added, with a smile: “It’s great for John. Not only have I helped him get to his first 1,000 wins, now I’ve helped him get started on his second 1,000 too!”

Size was typically nonchalant during celebrations and presentations to mark the milestone, instead choosing to focus on the future.

“I don’t think that way, about big milestones, I just try to do my job daily and I take whatever results come with that,” he said. “If you set too many goals, you are bound to be disappointed, so I am looking towards what will come tomorrow morning.”

However, talk quickly turned to the natural goal of a ninth trainers’ title, for which he sits in pole position with 48 of the 88 meetings completed. Size’s double took him to 49 wins for the term, nine clear of nearest chaser Moore and 14 ahead of third-placed Caspar Fownes.

“I’m happy with how we are getting on so far,” the trainer said. “I hope our good run continues over the next couple of months or so. You can never be too confident, though, as you don’t know what’s coming around the corner. You don’t know what other trainers are about to produce and one day your horses can be fine, the next they can be out of action. It is really difficult to predict.”

Game Of Fun was a typical Size project, taking time to hit his straps as the handler tried to figure out how to get the best out of the Snitzel gelding. However, he had improved slowly with racing and took all of his lessons to Wednesday night’s races as he fought on gamely to hold off Cruz’s Contribution (119lb).

“He just struggled to get that win,” he said. “He’s an honest little horse but just couldn’t break through until tonight. With the small improvement that will come from that, he can win again sometime in the next year but it might be few and far between.”

Size had tried Game Of Fun at both Sha Tin and Happy Valley, as well as on both turf and dirt, but he admits that he thinks the four-year-old might be one-dimensional.

“I don’t think he’s very versatile,” he said. “I think 1200m at Happy Valley suits him, so we’ll persevere here.”

Size then made it 1,001 victories with D B Pin, who was sent off a 1.5 favourite upon his return to the Happy Valley 1000m. He never really looked in doubt as he held off Danny Shum’s Charity Joy for a comfortable one and three-quarter length success.

“I jumped into a good spot and the horse really responded well,” Purton said. “It was a good win and he’s just kept improving. On tonight’s effort, you’d say he could handle the Happy Valley 1200m, although they still need to do it first. Maybe he can make a Class 1 horse yet.”

Moreira raises bat as he breaks own record for fastest century

Later in the night, Moreira brought up his 100th win for the season at just the 441st race of the 2016/17 term, taking out the Class 4 Rotary Centenary Challenge Cup Handicap (1200m) on Cruz-trained Pakistan Baby (130lb). This set a new record for the quickest century of wins in a Hong Kong racing season, with Moreira usurping his own mark, set last season, of 100 victories in 462 races – and the jockey admitted it had been on his mind throughout the night.

“It does feel like 100,” he laughed. “Because too many people are talking about it and I knew that I was pretty close. My book of rides was pretty good so I was confident I could make it today. It is a pleasure to win for Tony Cruz, too, he’s supported me here and there and we’ve been quite lucky together and it’s been proved once again today.”

Before the Brazilian jockey arrived on the scene, only two riders had ever reached the 100-win benchmark in a season: Douglas Whyte achieved the feat six times among his 13 consecutive championships, hitting a record high of 114, while Purton made it to 112 when he won the title in 2013/14.

However, Moreira became the quickest centurion in just his second season in Hong Kong in 2014/15 and has topped the mark at each of the last two years. Last season, that record pace saw him reach 168 wins at the end of the term.
                                                                                                                            
Moreira started the Happy Valley meeting on 97 wins but snapped to attention quickly, taking the first two races on the card: the Class 5 Fanling Handicap (1650m) on Me Tsui’s Smart Salute (131lb) and the first section of the Class 4 Fo Tan Handicap (1650m) on Manfred Man’s Spinning Dancer (122lb).

He looked stuck on 99 wins after heavily-backed favourites G-One Lover and Imperial Seal failed to fire, but the win of Pakistan Baby brought up a treble – and the record – for the Magic Man as the jockey donned the Kerm Din silks made famous by Hong Kong Classic Cup runner-up Pakistan Star.

A race later, Cruz-trained Blaze Stamina (123lb) provided Purton with a treble of his own in the Class 3 Tai Po Handicap (1200m). Cruz and Size were joined in scoring training doubles by Tsui, who bookended the meeting with Smart Salute and Thunder Stomp (117lb), winner of the Class 3 Tsuen Wan Handicap (1650m).

Hong Kong racing returns to Sha Tin on Sunday (26 February), with a feature race double-header – the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) – spearheading the 10-race card.